The Polygraph Test
by Ambre Astral
Summary: Based off the episode "The Inside Man". Abby feels guilty for the way she treated Tim down in the evidence garage. How does she make up for it? Please read, review, and enjoy!


******Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of the charcters from it. I do however own the crazy mind that puts these concoctions (what you're about to read) together. I'm not making any money from this. It's all purely for fun. No Copyright Infringement Intended. I'm just a heathily addicted, loyal fan of the show!. =D**

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**The Polygraph Test  
**by NCISFF Special Agent Starr

The guilt was becoming too much for her to handle. The longer she waited the more it was allowed to build. An apology was in order that much she knew, but she had to think carefully about how that was going to be expressed. She would have to be precise and to the point, which was a rather difficult task for Abby, in case he wanted to give her a taste of her own behavior.

A simple call over the phone would accomplish the task occupying her brain right now, but no. This required a genuine, face to face, meeting to help signify the true heartfelt, sincerity behind the confession. She owed that much to him, at least.

After working out the speech in her mind, reciting it to herself a few times for practice, making sure she knew exactly what to say and how she was going to say it, she sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly, and then finally, picked up her telephone.

Dialing the number from memory, she held the receiver to her ear and listened to the couple of rings before someone answered. Someone she wasn't expecting.

"Tony? Where's McGee?" she questioned.

"Yeah Abs," There was a pause for apparent thinking on the other side. "Um… I think he's still down trying to reschedule that polygraph test. Was there something you needed?"

For some reason, she felt her insides tighten a fraction more than they had already been. "Oh, no, it's nothing immediate. Could you just have him come down and visit me before he goes home tonight?"

"Sure thing, Abs. Considering that I think Boss is about to give us the homeward bound signal and that his stuff is still here, I'll have to run into him before the day is done. Unless of course, he's too busy sucking-"he stopped himself.

He was going to finish that with, "Unless of course, he's too busy sucking face with Susan McCrush." Thankfully, his usually unfiltered cranium threw up huge caution flags and warning/danger lights, alerting him of who he was talking to. Now he had to think of something to fill the void.

"Sucking down Pepto so McTestAnxiety doesn't make an even bigger mess than what he's already made in his pants over this whole predicament." There that should do it.

"Be nice Tony," she scolded, seemingly buying the cover up. "You'd be freaking out too if you found out you had to retake something like that. Anyway, make sure when you see him to tell him the message, okay?"

"Will do," He assured with a smile, while flipping on his phone to text Probie to get his ass upstairs pronto.

She sensed the goofy DiNozzo grin through the line, causing her own smile to appear, alleviating some of the pressure inside. "Thank you, Tony. Have a good night. Oh, and try to stay on this side of the jail bars, would ya?" The happy Goth added playfully before hanging up the phone.

Okay, so now all she had to do was wait. That could be a good thing. Give her time to perfect everything before Tim arrived. Or it could be really, really torturous if she let herself get consumed in how bad she felt.

Releasing a huff, she stood wiggly a foot that was resting on its toes, and tapping her fingernails against the counter top. Hopefully, she didn't go completely insane before he got there.

**----- x ----- x ----- x -----**

Tim had to admit it was kind of invigorating to know that he hadn't "failed" his annual test. Nor did he actually have to "retake" it. He had just simply caught the attention of the instructor.

He had just left her office in fact. Susan was a nice woman and all but she really was a bit odd for his taste. Sure, she was attractive and his increased heartbeat had given that away during their "second session" but he'd heard through the department scuttlebutt that she may have one or two screws lose.

Normally, he wouldn't go based off others opinions and want to find out for himself but when Ziva had made a comment about her when she informed him he was being searched for he decided to play it safe.

If Susan went on a manhunt for him when he didn't show up for their appointment, he didn't want to contemplate her tactics if he should happen to be late for a date or something.

Stepping in the elevator he was about to push the button to return upstairs when his cell phone played its text message jingle.

_Probie Abby Important Now! _

Changing his fingers direction he pressed the square for the lab floor. As the doors slid shut he couldn't help but wonder what the forensic specialist could want. Then again, he could ponder this for hours and still not even be in the ballpark of the mind of Abigail Sciuto. Guess he'd just have to wait and see.

**----- x ----- x ----- x ----- **

So lost in thought the knock on the doorframe made her nearly jump out of her skin. Whirling around she meet the eyes of the man she needed to talk with, giving him a sweet, welcoming smile.

He took note of her fright and how tense she appeared even though she was trying to remain herself as much as possible.

"Tony said you had something important?" he stated going off all he knew.

He watched as her face fell slightly, "You weren't busy were you? I told DiNozzo it wasn't an emergency. I swear it's a good thing he's a federal agent because he would not make a good receptionist."

Stepping in to the laboratory, he casually made his way to Abby's side. Maybe that would help her noticeable nerves. Once planted next to her he replied, "Nope. I'm pretty sure Boss is about to let us call it a day. What's up, Abs?"

Chewing on her bottom lip, eyes trained on the keyboard. Now that she had her chance to get this weight off her chest it was proving a lot harder to do now that he was actually here. But he could be upset enough with her already. No, he didn't seem to be mad, but he could be withholding it for her benefit, might as well not make things worse by keeping him waiting.

Her pale, green orbs traveled to the side of their sockets, making contact with the pair beside her.

"I'm really sorry about how I acted earlier today." She confessed timidly remembering to keep it short and not let herself go off on one of her normal exaggerative tangents.

Raising a confused eyebrow he tried to think of what she was referring to but nothing came to mind. "How did you act earlier today?"

"Down in the garage, for not listening to you." she answered somewhat annoyed that he didn't recall. "It was very rude and bitchy of me to try to talk over you and basically ignore your concern about what was going on with you and focusing on the case instead." There was so much more she could have said but she would remain controlled. Sure that he did not what to hear her excuses.

Okay, Abby was acting really strange right now. Even for Abby. Observing her eyes filling up with tears as she looked away, he instantly became concerned.

"Hey, Abby its okay I didn't even think that much of it." Reaching a hand around her, he started rubbing her shoulder. All that did was make it seem like she was getting more emotional. Seeing the first drop threaten to spill from her eye, he didn't know what else to do except hug her. And she clung to him accordingly.

"Timmy, I'm so sorry," the agony thick in her tone, "I know that if one of my friends treated me like that I would be furious. That being said I understand if you're mad at me. But please don't be." She begged, squeezed him tighter. "That's always something I take pride in, being able to be someone you can come to for anything whether it be comfort or insecurity or _anything_. And I failed you today. Not that I've always been perfect at it but if I ever have hurt your feelings or not been of much help, it has never been intentional Tim, _never._ Not even the stupid, stupid example I gave you of the agent who was "let go". I didn't even realize just was horrible it was until it was too late. Oh McGee… I feel terrible."

So much for being short and to the point and he couldn't have enjoyed her ramble more. That meant she was back to being regular Abby. Knowing who much she valued the virtue of friendship it made sense that she felt guilty about their little episode in the evidence room.

Well, apology accepted. He hadn't even taken that much offense to it. Sure, he felt a bit discouraged for a few minutes after it's happening, but nothing worth sticking around. Maybe he was simply relishing in the fact that the mystery was now solved.

"It's alright Abs. It's over… no big deal."

A light punch slammed into his bicep. "Don't let me get away with it." She reprimanded, hell-bent on suffering proper consequences.

Eyes narrowed, not seeing the need for violence, "Fine. I'm extreme mad at you Abby," Adding a hint of growl for dramatic effect.

"No, you're not." She deduced looking up at the geek with a faint smile. This was useless. Scanning through his gaze she was never going to be forgiven because to him there was nothing to really be for given for. Still she felt that she should take responsibility. "Well, if there's anything I can do to make up for it. You just let me know."

His expression lit up after a minute or two. Clearly he had thought of something. Maybe she would regret her choice of selecting the word "anything" for the peace offering.

**----- x ----- x ----- x ----- **

"I _cannot believe _you're making me do _this!_" she exclaimed to the man taking a seat at the computer beside the chair.

"You're the one who said _anything." _Tim teased with a smile, earning a glare from the other room occupant. "True, but I didn't think you would pick this as a punishment."

"See, you're already getting into it." He pointed out hopefully but she was still unconvinced. "I guess we don't have to do this if you're so opposed. I just thought that you wanted to make up for the way you acted to me this morning."

The pair of dark pink glossed lips turned away and down, pouting out at the impact of the words. Yes, he felt mean for pulling the remorse card but this was going to be worth it.

Sucking in a large amount of oxygen, "Let's get this over with," She exhaled. "You've got five questions. Go."

"Five?" That seemed low.

"Yes five, we would be here all night if I let you have free range. Do you think I'm that dense? Now c'mon this is already going to be uncomfortably enough for me because you're no doubt going to get serious on me…"

"Ten." He began negotiation.

"Eight." She countered.

"Nine, not including the warm up's."

"Deal, but I get a skip."

His agreement shot out of his mouth before he recognized that still calculated to eight that she had to answer. He observed a triumphant grin grace her features. Okay, if she wanted to play dirty he could too. He wasn't the one wired in the chair. He had control here.

Figuring there was no instruction needed on what she was expected to do here, he began with two test inquiries.

"Alright, Abs, is your name Abigail Sciuto?" She rolled her black rimmed eyes at the ridiculousness of that but responded accordingly.

"Do you work for the government agency NCIS?"

The machine reported that she had remained truthful to both.

'Show time!' the agent thought to himself with mild excitement of the possibilities in front of him. Perhaps he should start with something recent because she was right. It wasn't everyday he was going to have the opportunity to have Abby strapped up to a lie detector. It was inevitably going to get personal. And he was going to take advantage of it and enjoy it. But that didn't mean he should jump the gun. He had eight questions at his disposal.

"Do you plan on playing any kind of prank on me this Halloween?" it was only a few days away after all. All she did was laugh making the answer evident without even speaking. Still he needed clarification.

"Yes or no Abby," He reminded sourly wishing these types of things required an explanation to go with them. Maybe he should have never picked this one.

"Yes." Not giving any enlightenment as to what it was, "And could you set it up to make some kind of noise for my results so I know what they are?"

An unexpected request, "Why do you plan on lying to me?"

"No, I just want to make sure that _it's_," pointing a finger at the monitor to her side, "telling the truth. By the way, you're down to seven questions now."

That wasn't fair! That wasn't a legitimate question… time to fight back, "Are you in a committed relationship?"

It was a complete 360 in subject matter but when Susan had asked him the same question, he had to think about it. He couldn't help but wonder if Abby's thoughts would hesitate around the same thing his did… the other person in the room with them right now. Were they (himself and Abby) in a "committed" relationship even though nothing was official? Did they feel the connection with each other that even though it was a false statement, the twist inside knew that was a lie? No matter what the piece of equipment showed.

"No." passed through her lips after some time of contemplation. A tiny beep sounded from the computer, which he had set to beep once for true and twice for false. Their outcomes matched but there was a way to find out if they had been on the same mental track.

"Were you thinking about me just now, Abs?" number four came out gently.

Silence filled the room until the heart rate scale started increasing. "Skip." She replied putting an end to it.

That was strange, but he couldn't jump to any conclusions about the true meaning behind it and she was obviously not going any further with it. Perhaps he should try to lighten the mood again now.

"Do you think I'm attractive?" he smirked as she looked over at him with surprise. A smile curled her lips as she let out a calm "No."

He tensed, sure that she at least thought he was still cute, but when the polygraph beeped twice at him sniffing out the lie, he relaxed and she stuck her tongue out, "Gotcha."

Payback, "Do you get jealous when _other_ women think I'm attractive?"

"No!" quick denial. There may have been two couplings of beeps for that lie. Cupping his hands behind his head, he leaned back in satisfaction.

"You better wipe that look off your face McGee. Susan might think it's cute but I don't."

His eyebrows crunched close together as he noticed something. "How did you know about Susan, Abby?" As far as he knew she didn't know anything about the real reason why he had been called in to visit her again.

Panic struck her and it was visible. "That's not a true or false question McGee."

"Abby, did you know why she wanted me to retake the lie detector test?" he sat up, marveled by the stumble.

"No!!" she defended trying to act offended by the implications. _Beep… beep._ If she had a gun she would have shot the creator of that retched sound. As he continued to stare at her in astonishment, she sunk down in her seat.

"Of course I knew Timmy!" The confession began, "Once the scuttlebutt got to me I _had_ to find out what was going on. This was serious! I mean anyone who _fails_ their annual has some harsh consequences coming their way. What if you would have lost your special agent status? Or gotten kicked off Gibbs' team? Or gotten the boot from the agency?!"

"Well why didn't you just tell me what you knew Abs?"

"Because I didn't _like_ it McGee, not only did she put us in unneeded fret but I also didn't like the fact that it was all just because she had the _hots_ for you. It just pissed me off." She fell quiet. He sat, absorbing what had just entered his ears. After a while, she spoke up again.

"You have two left." Crossing her arms she was ready to end this.

"Do you regret breaking up with me?" He hated to ask that, especially after she probably felt vulnerable for admitting what she just did. But her reoccurring resentment of anyone that showed interest in him would contradict her decision years ago. He knew there were times when he regretted not taking a stand for his own feelings on the matter back then.

"No." it was true but she caringly offered justification to take away the sting of rejection. "I believed it was the right thing to do." Pausing, she made sure he hadn't been negatively affected by the answer. When she saw his ever reliant ability of understanding her take over his demeanor, she gave a small grin. "One to go Timothy, Better make it a good one."

Knowing exactly what the last would be, because it would be idiotic of him not to question it in this situation, he asked without delay.

"Do you love me Abby?"

As she practically started illuminating with happiness there was no need for her to take time to think about that, "Of course I do Tim." And even if the detector hadn't made a peep she knew that was absolute honesty. Once the device did peep, however, it was over and she breathed a sigh of relief. "Phew! Actually, I thought that was going to be a lot tougher than it was. I thought you'd want to know a whole bunch of stuff like if you're a good lover or something like that." She joked as he laughed standing to unhook her from the set up.

"I think I'd rather not know the truth about that. But I'd like to think I am proficient at it."

"Trust me, McGee, when comes to that you pass with flying colors. Now how about getting me out of this thing?" she prompted hopeful.

Leaning over her, he put his palms on the arms of the chair, made no move to detach the chords, and just looked at her. Once eye contact had been established he did something that required major guts.

"Abby, do you love me?"

That cheater! He didn't have any left! This wasn't fair! This was _way _too intense. She couldn't breathe let alone even attempt an answer. Her heart beat had kicked into overdrive. The question raced through and around her mind at such speed she felt dizzy. _Do you love me? _Over and over it echoed inside.

Yes, he had just asked the same thing before. But this was _completely _different than its twin. Number eight was friendly, a response she would have given many people had they been there instead of Tim. But number nine was… was…

Denial was caught in her throat and the question was still whirling like a tornado in her skull. _Do you love me? _She was afraid of passing out as she became incredibly lightheaded. But then something happened that shocked them both.

_BEEP!_

Both heads whipped to the side. Suddenly the hold on Abby's neck released allowing a gasp to enter. Now that her passage way was free, words of defiance came zooming out.

"That's crazy! The damn thing must have broken!" she proceeded to hit on the system, "I didn't even say yes or no. What the-"she turned her head back to face the other tech savvy person in the room for guidance, only to feel his lips attach to hers.

The machinery started going haywire! And Abby pulled the wires off her body as she forced herself out of the chair, not breaking the passionate kiss with Tim. She didn't need some chart telling her how fast her heart was beating; she could feel it hammering in her chest.

The Goth's arms encircled her geek after they had separated, resting her head against his chest which was also thumping pretty hard. "You know what?"

"What?" he wondered, pecking the part of her black hair.

"It's going to suck for you if your lady friend Susan discovers that you messed up her equipment. I hear she's still pretty mad at you for trying to ditch her earlier. And if you want my opinion, I wouldn't say a word about how it happened because she can find out if you're lying."

**----- x ---- x ----- x -----**

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**{Hello! It's been awhile since you've seen me, I know. And I apologize. In short procrastination, depression, and college are dragging me down. I don't feel this is my best work but I'm putting it out there in hopes that someone can enjoy it. Plus, I _had _to write this, for me, in hopes of kick starting my muse again. I will not let procrastination and depression take away something I love doing. I've gotten reviews lately asking for me to continue things and such and as always I assure you I will. Even if I _never _make a new story again, I will finish what I've put up. That being said I can't force it (if that makes sense. I KNOW what I want to do and where I want to go with my stories BUT sometimes the fingers just wont work with me) I just wanted to let you all know that I am trying. And I hope you enjoy this. =)} **


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